Many of the books on my list are, in my opinion, amazing. Some I didn't like. But I give them all five stars, because stars make people - including me -- happy.

The truth is that I think that most people, and most people in this book, 'Goodbye, Stranger', are really doing their best but they're stumbling all over the place and they're hurting each other deliberately and by accident.

I think if you can take something out and it doesn't change the book, it doesn't need to be there.

For me one of the most important things is not feeling like you have to protect yourself if you're with a real friend.

I feel like there are stages in many, many people's childhoods when you don't have one good friend. It can happen a lot in sixth and seventh grade because that's when things are changing so quickly. It's like a desperate dash for some kind of acceptable identity, and it can get ugly.

When something works for you, all you can do is cross your fingers and hope that it will work for someone else.

She's called the secretary, but as far as I can tell she basically runs the school.